I thought my Canadians friends and friends of Canada would like to hear a bit about the Olympics now that it is all over. There is so much to say (and millions of journalists have said so much already!) that I thought I would just give you a list of interesting figures and personal opinions.
- Canada’s ‘Own the Podium’ campaign was created to draw corporate sponsorship. Nobody liked the campaign as it was too brash/vulgar, too un-Canadian, and put too much pressure on the athletes.
- However, that being said, the record-breaking 14 gold medals set a new Olympic record for the highest number won in a single Games.
- Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report” was upset at Canada, calling Canadians such things as “syrup-suckers,” Saskatchew-whiners,” and “ice-holes” but remarked that when he arrived in Vancouver to tape his shows he commented that “I am surrounded by the most polite mob in history.”
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/17/bc-colbert-vancouver-taping.html
- Canada’s men’s Olympic ice hockey defeat to the United States became the most-watched sports programme in Canadian history with 10.6 million viewers – over a third of the country’s population.
- Vancouver’s opening ceremony, the first to be held indoors, was the most-watched television event ever in Canada with an average of 13.3 million viewers.
- 3.5 billion worldwide television viewers are estimated to have tuned into the Games.
- Freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to win Olympic Gold at home with victory in the men’s moguls. His brother, Frederic age 28, suffers from cerebral palsy and seeing him cheer on his younger brother and seeing them embrace each other after the Gold Medal win was one, big tear-jerker. Alexandre calls his brother Frederic “my inspiration” and he has probably done more to elevate cerebral palsy to the forefront of Canadian minds that anything in years.
The Vancouver Games had an operating budget of $1.75 billion. The figure does not include the $900 million security budget, funded mostly by the Canadian federal government.
A friend of mine bought an opening ceremony ticket for $2,700.
Someone was trying to sell front row seat at US-Canada Gold Medal Final for $9,000 on CraigsList
A group of 4 box seats at the same game were going for $136,000.
$500-million target for gross retail sales of Vancouver 2010 branded merchandise met by end of Games.
Spending by international visitors on Visa cards at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and in British Columbia topped US$100 million during the Games.
Top ten spenders:
- USA
- China
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Russia Federation
- Japan
- South Korea
- Hong Kong
- Norway
- Germany
I end with a quote from The Vancouver Sun newspaper:
“Tens of thousands of people poured into downtown streets Sunday, as they had each night of the Olympics, to celebrate and cheer not only Canada’s hockey win but merely being Canadian and part of these Games. And as usual, it wasn’t just a young crowd spilling from bars. There were seniors, babies in strollers, kids holding glow-sticks and middle-aged men and women waving flags tied to hockey sticks. And at the intersection of Smithe and Howe (finance district), at 9:30 p.m., there was a full-on street hockey game, complete with nets. Five hundred people stood and watched and cheered every goal, no matter which team scored.”
(Iain Macintyre, “2010: A Heartwarming Olympic Odyssey,” The Vancouver Sun, March 2, 2010)
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